Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 3)

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Quickie, if i wanted to use two flashes wirelessly, could I use my hvl-36 along with a Minolta 3600? I understand they are the same thing but just wanted to check there is no issues at all??:thinking:
 
Slimbert said:
Quickie, if i wanted to use two flashes wirelessly, could I use my hvl-36 along with a Minolta 3600? I understand they are the same thing but just wanted to check there is no issues at all??:thinking:
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You can mix and match. The 'Oracle' is at:
http://www.mhohner.de/sony-minolta/flashcomp.php

No ratios are supported - and the 36's don't have manual control. But that probably isn't a problem.

Simon
 
Slimbert said:
Cheers for the info Simon:thumbs: No need for manual controls at the moment. Just needed to know if I can use a Minolta with the Sony I already have! Thanks:D
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NP.

A little bit more info... (you might already know this, but it's here anyway)...

AFAIK, When using offboard flash, you are no longer using ADI (ADI is for the distance part of the flash calculation on top of TTL) as there is no way the flashes know how far they are from the subject (the camera knows the distance to the subject by the focus distance)
So what basically happens, is the camera tells the flashes to do a pre-flash (low power flash), the camera then measures the reflected exposure, does a calculation, and tells the flashes to flash at a specific power.
There is no communication from the flash to the camera, meaning you can have as many flashes as you want in the wireless setup (as they all just do as they are told)

As there are no ratios with your setup, both flashes will fire at the same power. Sounds obvious I know, but this does means that you can control the power of your flash by distance. The only thing to watch is (and this is why I put the text of what happens above), is that if you are trying lighting that is a little more complex, the camera might be trying to expose the entire frame correctly, do you might have to dial down/up the flash comp to correct.
 
If I were looking at getting some m42 lenses could anyone suggest a good place in the UK to get an adapter? I've had a look on ebay and all bar two were from Hong Kong / China, one was listed as "with a push ring!" and I'm curious as to what this is, or if they all have one and this one has been advertised as if it's something extra. Also, what would be considered a normal price for one and should I have one adapter per lens (if I decided to get more)?
 
Shot from my "Beercan" today at the TP meet



4124494559_8a6c10b27e_o.jpg


Sony A900, with Minolta 70-210 f/4, 210mm @ f/5.6

​

Not a bad lens, although I shot Nikon mostly today (due the the superb Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S)
 
puddleduck, that's one good photo. where was your meet?

do you carry both your nikon and sony setup when you're on a day out?
 
p1tse said:
puddleduck, that's one good photo. where was your meet?

do you carry both your nikon and sony setup when you're on a day out?
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Thanks, I shot mostly Nikon (mainly as I do not have quality long lenses in Sony fit, and don't plan to buy any)

The meet was at Donna Nook, Shots here (mostly D700)

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=181657

I am carrying both in so cases, when high res. is required I'm shooting Sony only.

High ISO or long lens stuff is Nikon at the moment. There is nothing in Minolta fit as good as my Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S hence the D700 action this weekend. (not impressed with the 70-300 SSM (overpriced, I tried one the other day), and the Sigma 100-300 f/4 isn't good enough either)
 
The Jessops Christmas Gift Guide just dropped through my door and it's nice to see that Sony has the first page of the DSLR section. The A230, A330 & A380 are all listed along with the 50mm f1.8 & 75-300mm f4.5-5.6. The prices shown include the cashback offer for each item and they are much cheaper than the Canon/Nikon offerings on the next page.

There could be quite a few Alphas under Christmas trees this year.
 
£109 for the 50mm isn't a bad price considering what the 2nd hand minolta ones go for.
 
Kev M said:
£109 for the 50mm isn't a bad price considering what the 2nd hand minolta ones go for.
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Yeah I've heard some other people saying they are very impressed with it, I had one just before I sold my A700 never actually got a chance to use it but I was well impressed with the build quality.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Yeah I've heard some other people saying they are very impressed with it, I had one just before I sold my A700 never actually got a chance to use it but I was well impressed with the build quality.
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I had a tough time choosing between a Sony 50mm f/1.8 or a Minolta 50mm f/1.7, as I'm sure many people do now that they're almost the same price!
There are so many conflicting reports around which one is better.

In the end I went for the Sony (paid £130) and I really couldn't be happier. I had high expectations and it met them 100%. Sharp enough fully open, fantastic IQ, great focus, etc.
 
puddleduck said:
There are a few of the early KM 28-75 on Ebay right now - folks dumping them for the Sony?!
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What search terms are you putting in to find these? I've just had a look for 28-75 and only get tamrons from China and the lens you linked above.
 
Kev M said:
What search terms are you putting in to find these? I've just had a look for 28-75 and only get tamrons from China and the lens you linked above.
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270491151018
280429372261
200408250535
260509338744

Never seen to many, they hardly ever come up, and usually go for around £300-ish.
 
Cheers Andy, I'll be keeping an eye on them in case one goes cheaply. Is there any real difference in image quality between them and the Tamron lens?

I'm interested in P1tse's Tamron but really need to wait until after christmas before buying anything else unless it's a steal and if that is gone by then I will have to buy new (but at least if I have any BF/FF problems I can send it off to get fixed for free).
 
There is no difference in image quality between the KM and the Tamron.

I prefer the KM purely as its correctly reported as a 28-75 f/2.8 in Lightroom etc, as opposed to a 24-105 f/3.5-f/4.5 - Tamron used a different chip ID, but optically I can't see any difference really and I've shot both side by side.
 
Gazbag said:
Just a quickie on a lens. Money is a little tight just now but my dearest and nearest is looking at getting me a longer lens (Tamron 70 - 300) and I was just wondering if anyone else uses this. I would like the Sigma APO version but I understand that the Alpha's strip the AF ring. Amy help would be useful. Thank
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I got the Tamron back in October and I am really enjoying it so far. I used to use the Sigma for work (on a nikon D50 so can't comment on the stripping issue) and the I think the Tamron stands up very well in terms of image quality. The AF is a bit slower with the Tamron and it doesn't feel quite as solid however overall the lens is excellent value for money...
 
Kev M said:
Cheers Andy, I'll be keeping an eye on them in case one goes cheaply. Is there any real difference in image quality between them and the Tamron lens?

I'm interested in P1tse's Tamron but really need to wait until after christmas before buying anything else unless it's a steal and if that is gone by then I will have to buy new (but at least if I have any BF/FF problems I can send it off to get fixed for free).
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hit me with an offer in the classifieds above "steal" ;-)
 
I tested my D700 and Sony A900 a while ago, but only just got round to looking at the results. Lightroom 3 beta used which is much improved for Sony high ISO.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 used on the D700 (which is actually about 46mm), Minolta 50mm f/1.7 used on the Sony (hence framing differences). The D700 metered "hotter" than the A900 (the A900 has a tendancy to underexpose, the D700 is a bit hotter).

Test image:

http://www.odysseus-software.co.uk/A900/ISO1600-D700A900.jpg

100% crop:

http://www.odysseus-software.co.uk/A900/ISO1600-D700A900-crop1.jpg

100% crop (detail retention)

http://www.odysseus-software.co.uk/A900/ISO1600-D700A900-crop2.jpg
 
:bonk: gone and done it again....was walking around oxford street with the missus,when i walked into jessops for a browse,when i spotted them selling the sony 11-18 lens for £250 :eek:.knowing that the cheapest i've seen it is £480-ish....went and got it :D

there was a few of them there..just in case anyone fancies one ;)
 
stan the man said:
:bonk: gone and done it again....was walking around oxford street with the missus,when i walked into jessops for a browse,when i spotted them selling the sony 11-18 lens for £250 :eek:.knowing that the cheapest i've seen it is £480-ish....went and got it :D

there was a few of them there..just in case anyone fancies one ;)
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Yeah saw it in Edinburgh seemed a good deal if your wanting one,
Does anyone know Is the A850 weatherproofed at all?
 
chrism_scotland said:
Yeah saw it in Edinburgh seemed a good deal if your wanting one,
Does anyone know Is the A850 weatherproofed at all?
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wasn't particularly looking to get one,but there are times you want/need something a bit wider..and you can't walk back to get it all in frame,so decided the price was right.have read a few reviews which say that the images can appear soft in the corners...will probably use it tomorrow on the cardiff TP meet,and see how it performs,if i'm not happy with it,i will sell it on.

not sure wether the A850 is weatherproof or not...
 
stan the man said:
wasn't particularly looking to get one,but there are times you want/need something a bit wider..and you can't walk back to get it all in frame,so decided the price was right.have read a few reviews which say that the images can appear soft in the corners...will probably use it tomorrow on the cardiff TP meet,and see how it performs,if i'm not happy with it,i will sell it on.

not sure wether the A850 is weatherproof or not...
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Cheers Stan it seems it is actually,
 
Slimbert said:
Can't see a £2k camera not having it.......

You're really going for it this time Chris!!:thumbs:
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I was just wondering to be honest, been looking at the Pentax K7 and Nikon D300 which are both weatherproofed and probably just about the top APS-C Cameras, but theres nothing in the Sony now thats even near there, tbh the A850 is probably just a fleeting dream I could buy a Pentax K7 and a few lenses for the price of the A850 on its own!
I'd probably rather have a Sony but struggling to find any new A700's.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Does anyone know Is the A850 weatherproofed at all?
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neither the A700 or A850/A900 are officially classed by Sony as weatherproof/waterproof. They do, however, have a fairly high level of sealing & I doubt that you'll find many (any?) reports of problems in that regard - in fact if anything somewhat the reverse.

The K7 looked great on paper but once people started to actually receive them I'm not sure that it has lived upto the original announcement's promise (e.g. AF still seems to lag other manufacturers).
 
heidfirst said:
neither the A700 or A850/A900 are officially classed by Sony as weatherproof/waterproof. They do, however, have a fairly high level of sealing & I doubt that you'll find many (any?) reports of problems in that regard - in fact if anything somewhat the reverse.

The K7 looked great on paper but once people started to actually receive them to I'm not sure that that it has lived upto the original announcement's promise (e.g. AF still seems to lag other manufacturers).
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Cheers Scott, I can't stretch to the A850 anyway so thats out but good to know they have some level of weatherproofing.
I know that the AF on Pentax SLR's is lacking compared to the big hitters from Nikon and Canon but I'd heard that the K7 was improved over the K20D, I'm in 2 minds as I've been offered a Samsung GX20 (Pentax K20D bascially) for a cracking price but I'm a bit reluctant when I could have the newer model!
 
ki_user said:
Have you thought about the A330, I've just bought one from jessops (exclusive to them). It's a good in between. Got the live viewer on it but not as high MP as the A850
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If I was to buy any Sony it would have been the A700 but they've very hard to get now and failing that maybe an A550 but while it feels nice to hold it feels very cheap compared to the old A700, I wouldn't buy any of the lower level Axx series now they feel awful to hold with the tiny grip!
 
ki_user said:
Strange you should say that, I read loads of reviews before I bought mine saying about the grip. But I have had no problems with mine, don't know if that's because I have big hands.
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I used to have the old A300 maybe thats why I don't like the new ones, just didn't feel right in my hand!
 
chrism_scotland said:
I'm in 2 minds as I've been offered a Samsung GX20 (Pentax K20D bascially) for a cracking price but I'm a bit reluctant when I could have the newer model!
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would you actually use the features of the newer model though or does the old do all that you need?
iirc the K7 IQ isn't supposed to be any better than the K20D (I don't recall how the in-camera processing of the Samsung is rated but I believe that there is a difference between Pentax & Samsung treatment).
 
chrism_scotland said:
I used to have the old A300 maybe thats why I don't like the new ones, just didn't feel right in my hand!
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I bought a Sony A200 and off course as soon as I bought it, the A230 came with a rebate from Sony.

But having seen how "dumbed down" it appears to be, I'm glad I got the A200 over the A230. The newer Sony bodoes seem to have cut out a lot of standard controls and moved them into menus, or removed them all together?
 
stan the man said:
:bonk: gone and done it again....was walking around oxford street with the missus,when i walked into jessops for a browse,when i spotted them selling the sony 11-18 lens for £250 :eek:.knowing that the cheapest i've seen it is £480-ish....went and got it :D

there was a few of them there..just in case anyone fancies one ;)
Click to expand...

I've used this in Nikon fit (its just a re-badge of the Tamron) and its a very nice lens. Never sold well as its only a 7mm range and was always priced higher than the Sigma 10-20 and Tokina 12-24 but its a good lens. You got a good price there! Its better at 11mm than 18mm (no bad thing). I guess Sony will just re-badge the newer Tamron 10-24 hence the 11-18 reduction?

Talking of wide angles, I've gone and accidentally bought a Carl Zeiss 16-35 this weekend, not sure how that happened, didn't mean to!
 
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